and…we missed it.” That’s Mark Jones’ view of CITES. The fundraising director of Care for the Wild International, Jones gave voice in BBC’s Green Room to what most conservationists around the world are thinking about CITES after Doha, the 2010 meeting that failed to offer “real meaningful protection” to any marine or timber species of commercial value.
Note that the photo above—contrary to iWild’s practice with our Endangered All-Stars—does not contain an image of any species of Madagascar Rosewood. That’s because the rosewood tree in the photo has been cut down, along with five other trees that were blocking loggers’ access to it. Indeed, we were not able to find any images, or accurate descriptions of the 47 species of rosewood from Madagascar, probably because they are disappearing faster than they can be documented. That’s how effective CITES and other forms of so-called biodiversity protection are, worldwide.
For more on the rape of Madagascar’s endemic flora, see Mongabay’s interview with Erik Patel and National Geographic’s coverage of the largely ineffective ban on cutting rosewood. Nat Geo’s News Watch also offers an excellent summary of the need for effective enforcement of the ban.
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